Meriweather overcomes character issue

Former Miami safety Brandon Meriweather was the subject of much talk entering the draft, with speculation saying he could slide to the second round because of character concerns.

Well, that didn't happen. Meriweather went to the Patriots at No. 24 overall, despite playing a central role in the UM-Florida International brawl last season and being at the center of an earlier off-campus shooting incident that also involved a teammate.

Apparently, if you can play, character concerns come second for some teams, even despite the NFL's renewed focus on conduct. But give Meriweather credit: he apparently handled the questions with maturity, rather than deflecting them. Also, it helped that the shooting was not determined to be a criminal action.

Earlier this year, at the Senior Bowl, Meriweather told the Times: "I think everybody came here thinking that I'm a great athlete but a bad character guy because of the fight and the gun incident. I wanted to come in and show them that there's nothing about hype here. I'm serious about this."

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